Problems
by TheTrainTicket
Summary: Marik and Mai discuss their problems with each other. Non-romantic, although there is Bronzeshipping and hinted Visionshipping.


**Note: This is an AU, because if you've seen the show, then chronologically speaking, none of these events should've happened. Unless you're with me on the theory that Yami Marik came back after Battle City, or that there's a chance. But even then, I'm still not sure **_**when**_** this takes place.**

**That is why it's called fan**_**fiction**_** ;)**

**Also, this is rated M because of some swearing and the mild rape scene at the beginning. Yes, isn't that a great way to start a story? **

***Ahem.**

**I don't know why… but I really like the idea of Mai and Marik being friends. And I mean, just friends, I don't like them as a couple. Is that weird? I think it's weird…**

**This is a little fast paced, and not my best work. It was more or less just a short experiment to have the two characters interacting.**

Problems

He was down on the ground again, underneath that horrible creature. Trapped in his own mind. He could feel the hot breath of the monster as it breathed on his neck.

Why did he create such a thing? Why did he have such weakness?

Then the monster proceeded to undress him, slowly, torturing him. He couldn't squirm, couldn't run away. How can you escape from yourself?

He felt the monster enter him and held back a muffled scream. The monster chuckled, or so he thought he heard. He never saw because his eyes were shut the entire time. He wasn't sure if that made it any better, though. Like when people tell you to close your eyes while you're swinging, because it'll feel like a roller coaster. That's how things were right now. Everything happening to him seemed to be on a much grander scale.

But could he open his eyes and face that creature?

He gave it barely a second's thought before deciding to keep his eyes shut.

The monster wrapped his hand around his neck, and tightened his grip. Tighter. Tighter.

"Say it…" he whispered. "Say it…"

"I love you, yami…" he choked. The words felt like acid on his tongue.

The monster smirked before kissing his lips hard. Then he pulled out, satisfied that he got what he wanted.

"I love you too, hikari…" he said before leaving.

Yeah, he did, it was true. That monster loved his little hikari, but not in a consensual way. The hikari was his prized possession, an object that he would never allow anyone else to touch.

He lay there, thinking about this. He knew he had no hope for a decent future. He'd be fooling himself to believe that he did.

But it was still a nice fantasy…

He'd get married, have a few kids, and be the father he never had. It all seemed so nice. But that monster would always be around to ensure that no one ever got close to him.

And then there was the matter that he wasn't quite sure if he liked women.

He pulled up his pants leggings before stepping into the ocean. It felt cool against his feet. He liked the water, how it was gentle and free. One of these days he had to try learning how to swim. That would be fun. He needed another way to unleash his anger besides always motorcycling his problems away.

He hoped his yami wouldn't mind, though. There were so many things he was denied because his yami deemed them too dangerous.

No wait, he deemed them too dangerous for the _hikari_. Nothing was too dangerous for the _yami_. He just took over the body whenever risky events came up. All the wild, free things in life Marik was never able to do because of his yami's control.

He suddenly looked at the water with new hatred. There was an image in his head of his yami swimming away, drowning out the problems that he didn't have because he had thrust them all onto his hikari.

Thrust into him, more like it…

He reached for a rock and threw it hard into the ocean. He found some more and threw them in, farther each time. His anger only grew with each throw.

"Why does my life have to be this way?!" He yelled out to no one. He kept throwing his rocks. Further, harder. Each rock was a problem, and he felt the weight being lifted as he threw them.

Throw it away, throw it away. Have some control over one small thing.

He reached down for another rock, but discovered that he had run out. An angry growl escaped his lips as he lashed down onto his knees, not caring about how wet he got. He started pounding his fist into the ocean, feeling the cool water spit on his face.

His knuckles went numb, and the water turned red in a few spots. He kept on punching, though, he didn't care. In fact, did he really care about anything?

"What are you doing?"

He stopped automatically when he heard the smooth voice. He turned his head to see a woman standing on the bridge behind him. Somewhat embarrassed of being caught, he quickly stood up and tried to smooth out his shirt and hair.

She peered down at him; there was an analytic look in her eyes. "You're that Ishtar kid, right? Marik?"

"Yeah…" he replied. He was a bit thrown off that she knew his name. Then he took a closer look at her. "I know you. You were one of the finalists in Kaiba's tournament, that…" he tried to recall her name.

"Mai Valentine," was her answer.

"Right, sorry. Miss Valentine."

"Please, call me Mai, sweetie."

"Of course. Sorry – again… it's just, my sister always taught me to be polite around a lady."

For some reason, this made her blush. He called her a lady. She called herself that, but couldn't remember the last time someone else had. A small smile crept over her face.

"How is your sister, anyways?" She asked, remembering the mysterious woman from the finals.

"She's fine." He told her. If he had been a little more focused, he would have had a bit of suspicion.

He pulled himself out of the ocean and onto the bridge. Mai stepped back as water dripped off his clothes and onto her.

"Sorry."

She frowned. "You apologize too much."

He opened his mouth to say sorry, but then shut it again. She shook her head.

"So what're you doing out here by yourself?"

"Thinking," he said as he plopped down, crossing his legs.

"Thinking?" She eyed his wet clothes.

"And… punching blindly into a body of water." They both giggled.

"It's OK, sweets, we all gotta let out our anger somehow."

He smiled, thankful that she just accepted. He was nervous around people, especially if they were older and he didn't know them very well. Especially women.

She removed her boots and sat down next to him, running her toes along the tip of the water. He felt his pulse quicken as she did so.

What was she doing?

They were both silent for a little while before she started up the conversation again. "You wanna tell me what's eatin' up at cha?"

"Not really."

She turned her head sharply at that. He instantly regretted his words when he saw the insulted look she wore.

"Um… I didn't mean it like that… it's just – we don't really know each other." His tongue was dry. He knew he sounded like an idiot, but how do you talk to a complete stranger?

She pursed her lips. "What's there to know? I'm a driven young woman looking to become a top duelist. You seem like a lonely kid who has a lot on his mind."

Well, she was right about that.

She got quiet. Now it was he turn to talk. He hated this. He had to think of something to say, or he'd be embarrassed. Had it really been that long since he had a formal, non-dealing or threatening conversation with someone?

"Would we… I mean, would we even have anything to talk about?" He asked her.

"We both like dueling, there's a start."

Not a very good one. Marik wouldn't necessarily say he "liked" dueling, at least not anymore. It was fun when he and his sister played it as kids, but now… it had sort of lost its touch for him.

She must have sensed his feelings about the subject, because she suddenly crossed her arms in exasperation.

"I'm not normally this nice to people, so take advantage of it, kid!" She barked.

Crap, now she was mad. Her courage humbled him. His gaze turned to his knees as he continued to wonder how to reply. He couldn't tell her about his yami and the mental abuse that was afflicted on him. She wouldn't understand. Besides, his yami would get angry with him, and there was no telling what would happen then…

Then he recalled another thought that had him twisting around at night. He turned to the woman.

"Have you ever… I mean, maybe _you_ haven't, but… is it normal for boys to not like girls?"

She raised her eyebrow. "Oh honey, if you haven't come out of the closet by now, and you're wearing that, you need – "

"No, no, that's the thing… I'm not _sure_ if I'm gay or not."

"Well, you fit the fashion stereotype."

"My emotions aren't tied by my clothes!" He snapped. He saw the strong expression in her face fade. His burst of anger left him. "I'm sorry… aw, shit – "

"No, you're right. I shouldn't have said that…" She got up and proceeded to put her boots back on.

"You don't have to go," he stood up. "We can still talk. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. I just don't like it when people judge me on my looks."

Mai paused. She felt a rush of shame wash over her as she fully took in what he said.

"I can relate to that…" she half-whispered.

She turned to him. He was cute in a "little brother" kind of way, and he had such a pained look in his eyes. It was a look she was very familiar with. She had had it in her own eyes, several times before. Suddenly feeling sympathetic, she sighed and said:

"OK, so talk. How do you feel about girls?"

Marik blinked. A tiny grin came and went on his face.

"Well… I don't really know." He admitted, scratching the back of his neck. "I mean, they're fine and all, but I never really felt a connection to them." His hair sliced into the cuts on his knuckles, and he flinched. He shoved his hand into his pocket, hoping she hadn't noticed. "The only girl I really know is my sister, and she's, you know… my sister." Mai nodded as the teenager poured out his soul. "But I'm not too sure I like boys either. I feel a bit of a connection, but that's just cause I am one."

He thought back to his nightmare the previous night. He remembered what his monster did to him. Did he really want to be with a man after that? After so many times of that…

"Hmm…" the woman mused. She turned her gaze to the sunset. "I have a distrust towards men. One too many broken promises. They see a woman like me and think I'm all for playing around one night, and waking up alone the next day."

Where did that come from? How did this teenage boy get those words to come out of her mouth? Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him smiling. Not in a cynical way, but with genuine compassion.

"I guess I kind of understand what you're going through."

"Do you ever think you like girls?"

Again, his sister popped into her head. "Sometimes…"

"Ever think you're asexual?" He asked, feeling a bit more comfortable around her.

She smirked. "That would make my life easier! But no, sadly, I don't think I'm asexual." She blew some of her bangs out of her eyes. "Why, do you?"

He nodded. "At times. I can't really help it."

"I don't think anyone can, honey. That's the difference between logic and emotion. You think what you think, but you'll still want what you want." She sighed.

"Sometimes I think I'm just better off alone."

"Amen."

They were silent again for a few moments, just appreciating the fact that they were around someone who understood them. Then she reached over and put a hand on his shoulder.

"You're not at all like your other side." She told him.

He freaked out. How did she – oh wait, now he remembered… when he took control of that one girl, he had seen Mai in a coma after dueling his yami. But still, did she have to bring him up? He had actually been enjoying this conversation.

"You're a good kid, Marik."

He smirked. "I wouldn't say that." Especially after last night… he _really _wouldn't say that. "But thank you, Mai. You're a good person."

She shook her head. "I wouldn't say that, either."

"We're both good listeners?"

"Sure." She extended her hand, which he shook. "Come on, I'll give you a ride home." She gestured towards her car.

"Oh, I don't live here." He explained. "My family and I are just staying around to catch up and relax a little. We're leaving in a few days."

"Oh." Mai sputtered. "Where're ya goin'?"

"Don't know. We have to get to Egypt eventually, to help the pharaoh. So probably back there, at least for a little while. But I'm really not looking forward to going back…"

Poor kid. She knew what he was going through, since she herself was on a road to nowhere. She never felt that location really mattered, it was the things you did that count. But still, too many bad memories could keep a person from going back. She thought about asking Marik more on this, and then decided it was better not to.

The young woman closed her eyes. "I see. Too bad, we were just getting to know each other." He put his hand reassuringly on her shoulder. He had that cute little brother smile on his face again. She liked this kid. It had been a while since she had a sort of friendly connection with someone. "Come on, let me at least give you a ride."

"Alright…"

And as she turned around to head back to her car, he felt a sting cut across his body. Within an instant, he had the urge to vomit, and in another instant, it was gone. But he knew the warning. He had felt it several times before. His creature was watching him. And it saw this woman as a threat.

"Uh… Mai?" She spun and looked at him. "Actually, I think I'm going to stay here a little longer."

She blinked, turned fully around and placed a hand on her hip. "You sure, kid? It's gonna be dark soon."

"Yes. I'm sure."

"I don't want you getting into trouble."

"Oh, don't worry, I won't – " his precious monster would make sure of that…

She wasn't convinced. This little boy was hiding something. Her feelings were hurt, because she had thought that they had something. Then she started to think: Did his other personality still exist? Her friends had told her that he had been destroyed during the tournament. Of course, if one side was still around, then the other could easily come back. It was possible.

Poor little Marik…

She walked up to him. Now it was her turn to put a hand reassuringly on his shoulder.

"Hey," she said softly. "If you have problems – with anything – you can tell me, OK?" A deep sigh escaped his throat. He closed his eyes. "Promise me."

_Promise me._ Said another voice inside his head.

Dammit.

He could feel two sets of eyes staring down at him, demanding his trust. That sting cutting into his body intensified. He was going to collapse, he just knew it. But her hand on his shoulder was so warm. It was like the comfort his siblings sometimes gave him. Comfort that no one outside his family had ever given him.

He stared into her eyes. Even though they had just started to get to know each other, he knew he could trust her. She was a good person, no matter what she thought about herself.

And then he thought of her in a coma.

_Don't forget what I did to her before. I could do it again, my little one. So very easily…_

Just once, he'd like one thought that was solely to himself. And just once, he'd like to get everything he wanted.

"I promise." He told her.

She smiled in content, and it warmed his heart. They said their farewells right before she left, leaving him standing on the bridge. He watched her car drive away, stood watching until it was too far to see.

"Good-bye, Mai." He whispered. "I'm sorry I lied."

And he was there, under its grip again. No one to save him. He was all alone with his monstrous creation. It was his fault.

His monster pulled his body closer to him as his movements increased. He could feel his anger at him for what he did today. His monster didn't like betrayal, and had hardly forgiven him for what had happened during Battle City. The monster had to be sure that his creator would never leave him again. And so Marik had to endure this torture; it was the only way to keep everyone he loved safe. The only way he could keep Mai safe.

"Squirming isn't going to help you, my sweet hikari… I'm not letting go, so you might as well stop struggling… what's the matter with you? I'm only doing this because I love you…"


End file.
